


Baby Flops

by Trainer_Amy



Series: Naga's Lore [4]
Category: Flight Rising
Genre: Blind Character, Coatl, Guardian - Freeform, Spiral - Freeform, The Rogues - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 06:24:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18911368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trainer_Amy/pseuds/Trainer_Amy
Summary: A one-shot about baby Rydian learning to fly, with the help of her pirate companions.





	Baby Flops

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted from tumblr. Original post: https://ominouspotato.tumblr.com/post/144455495785/story-prompt-4
> 
> CW: depictions of drowning

The [little hatchling](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fflightrising.com%2Fmain.php%3Fdragon%3D10893165&t=ZmYzYjNiYzMwYjM5OTJkNmE1NWNmNmFjNjExZTg0ZGM3YTY3NmNmNCxHcWo5cW5kWg%3D%3D&b=t%3A5oAdtInnFTRQVU0-95271w&p=https%3A%2F%2Fominouspotato.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F144455495785%2Fstory-prompt-4&m=1) they found in the barrel of dried insects, chomping happily away, had not said much so far. [Phantom](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fflightrising.com%2Fmain.php%3Fdragon%3D7090060&t=YWFjY2E5MzJkZDQ2OTVhNzVjOTk5ZTFkNTU4YTE0Yzc3ZjY4OTZiNyxHcWo5cW5kWg%3D%3D&b=t%3A5oAdtInnFTRQVU0-95271w&p=https%3A%2F%2Fominouspotato.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F144455495785%2Fstory-prompt-4&m=1) grumbled to himself as she sat plopped in the middle of his kitchens, just begging to be stepped on. It was all well and good, he thought, for Quicksilver to be smitten and assign the stowaway to his kitchen; it was another thing altogether to work with her. He called her Rydian, meaning “underfoot” in his particular Light dialect.

Rydian herself was not sure why the big dragon was so grumbly. He had a lot of insects and they were sharing. She squeaked, and he lumbered over - that was their signal now. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek. “Share,” she said, and thrust an insect in his direction.

He roared, fumbling away, and the ground trembled where he stomped. Undeterred, she thrust the bug into her own mouth and crunched down happily. She reached in for another, but to her dismay the container was empty but for a few paper-thin wings. Rydian uncurled, toddling and bumping and adding to the crashes and bangs of the galley.

Eventually she smelled the salty tang of the sea, the breeze ruffling her wings and snapping the sails. She could faintly hear the sounds of clomping feet and swish of wings on the top deck and craned towards them, sneezing when some spray landed on her nose. She crawled further, feeling along the slippery beams, until she could hear the roiling sea crashing against the ship beneath her.

“Whoa, hey there.” Warm paws wrapped around her waist, pulling her close to warm downy feathers and a softly beating heart. The [Coatl](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fflightrising.com%2Fmain.php%3Fp%3Dview%26tab%3Ddragon%26id%3D0%26did%3D11141326&t=ODJlNjU1ZTUwNjU1MzQyMzJkMmYyNmJiY2Y2ZmIwOTIwMTk0NjllZCxHcWo5cW5kWg%3D%3D&b=t%3A5oAdtInnFTRQVU0-95271w&p=https%3A%2F%2Fominouspotato.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F144455495785%2Fstory-prompt-4&m=1) spoke with a heavy warbling accent, pleasantly melodious. In time Rydian would come to know him as a tyrant, infatuation turned into venomous jealousy and spite, and she would hear that heart pounding beneath the blood-slicked feathers; but as an infant she knew Jasper as a friend and helping hand. He smelled vaguely equine, but that was probably from his Longneck familiar.

She wiggled from his grasp. The sea smell was so close, tantalizing her nose and tastebuds. She could smell a whole other world down there. She lunged for it –

Jasper grabbed her by the tail and reeled her back in. “Okay, hang on. You can’t just go diving in like that. I’ll hold you and then you can see… or I guess smell the water. Okay?”

She nodded enthusiastically, and soon was dangling over the side of the ship. The bow creaked beneath her, and she felt exhilarated, breathing ocean spray deeply into her body, laughing when gush of water hit them both in the face. Jasper was laughing too.

“Alright,” he spluttered, “I think that’s en–”

“PUT HER DOWN!” Phantom’s roar and the beat of wings came from the direction of the galley. Jasper startled, and Rydian slipped from his grasp, and she was diving straight down, wings tucked in, air streaming along the sides of her face, and she was  _free_.

She broke the water with a shock, the roil of the underwater wave pushing her against the side of the ship. Spirals weren’t usually meant for swimming, but flying came naturally; and so she flew, lungs burning, towards the quiet of the ocean. She bumped into a school of fish and instinctively grabbed a slimy morsel with her mouth. She had no air left, though, and a panic began to set in - which way was up?

Something soft nudged against her. She stopped thrashing and curled into a ball, and the soft thing nudged her repeatedly until her head broke the heavy-hitting surface.

“There! Ocean, go get her!”

A huge presence cupped her and raised her to the deck of the ship, where she tumbled painfully and spluttered around her caught fish. She was wrapped in something warm and dry, brushing against the heat of burnt-smelling scales, and fussed over by Phantom.

“Looks like she made a friend down there,” Jasper mused nearby. The Dappled Seal would become her companion, and her fishing partner.

“And she brought back dinner,” joked an Imperial, swallowing the single fish in half a gulp.

Rydian grinned. The freedom of diving, flying, swimming - it had been euphoric and terrifying and addictive. And if she brought back enough fish, maybe Phantom would give her some more bugs.


End file.
